To close out the year, we've asked our local neighborhood editors to choose their favorite stories from the past year, and to explain why they loved them so.
Today, we hear from local editor Nuala:
Hayes Valley is known for its former freeway, its boutiques, and its fine dining—but my favorite story to write in this neighborhood this year was about two children who've grown up there. I met with Intava and Allen Wong at their parent's salon on Ivy Street, where they shyly showed me their paintings and car sculptures. Although they're younger members of the neighborhood, they've been here longer than many other residents, and their perspective on the how things have changed was a valuable insight into the way local kids view Hayes Valley.
This wasn't a high-performer of a post—nothing news-breaking or revolutionary about the story. But it was a great reminder that it's not just the old guard—the movers and shakers who've lived here for decades—that have made the neighborhood what it is today. Sometimes it's just two kids who used to sell their paintings in front of their parent's liquor store.
Below is an excerpt from the original story, published on August 5th, 2015.
Longtime Hayes Valley residents may remember two prolific young artists who would set up milk crates to display and sell their work outside Anna's Market, the corner store their parents owned at 424 Hayes St. (It's now home to Alternative Apparel.) These days, Intava and Allen Wong are 17 and 15, respectively, but they're still creating works of art in the neighborhood.
In the Wongs' younger years, Hayes Valley was a sleepier neighborhood. On her website, Intava recalls a time when "lights would flicker green and red all the time but not many cars would be there to stop or go." The two children would make and hang paintings in the window of Anna's, which was owned by their parents, Johnny and Vieng Wong ...
Continue reading one of Nuala's favorite story of 2015, "Meet Intava And Allen Wong, Teenage Artists Of Hayes Valley."
